Although some companies claim that using Web 2.0 is a marketing strategy, in many cases that seems unfounded. Understanding the idea of Web 2.0 is now a key facet of web development, and is important if you want your website to evolve and take advantage of the direction the web is heading in, and that is it’s becoming more and more user driven.

The term “Web 2.0” was born in a conference brainstorming session between O'Reilly and MediaLive International in 2004. It referred to a change of thinking about how the applications of the future should be developed. Even before the term existed, Web 2.0 type applications were already around, for example, blogging software. These applications and services have at least several of the following elements in common:

• Applications are increasingly data-driven
• Ability for other parties to manipulate that data
• "Living" applications that can be easily adapted
• Harnessing the collective experience
• The web as a platform, independent of user platform
• Primary focus of participation, rather than publishing
• Trusting users to provide reliable content

Other examples of applications and services with strong Web 2.0 influences are bookmark sharing, Google AdSense, RSS web feeds, Wikipedia and the thousands of mashups currently in existence.

The APIs that companies release are interfaces that allow external requests to be made to whatever content the company is offering, and offer a greater opportunity for web development. Instead of it being just a reproduction of information, there is a high degree of interaction with users which makes APIs tied in with Web 2.0 concepts. A mashup is a web application that combines data from more than one source into an integrated experience. Content used in mashups is typically sourced from a third party via a public interface or API.

Social networking services relating to the web are where a group of people launch a highly interactive service based on common interests between users and easy to use communications tools to detail and promote those interests to others. They then invite their friends and colleagues to join and encourage them to invite people they know who have similar interests. Introductions are then made between these people that have been invited throughout the various tiers of the process.

Via common connections these processes connect businesses to consumers, consumers to consumers and businesses to businesses whom otherwise may not have met. It also helps establish a network of credibility. A great example of social networking is the hugely popular MySpace.com - an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends and colleagues. A single profile can generate a little "world" of people who have similar interests and these worlds are eventually overlapping with other worlds.

The increasing use of Web 2.0, mashups and social networking is leading to new expectations from users, and new ways of thinking regarding web design and development. Heavy participation with the audiences is becoming more and more popular. In the years ahead, it will become more difficult to have a successful, fully automated site where you can take off for a week and ignore what's happening. Clients and visitors want to interact with each other, but also with you and the wider related communities.